But if you look at the Palin phenomenon from a psychological point of view: it is all about the right-wing American masses' love of the phony 'rugged individualist' narrative (mythology) which drips with fake-populist-but-authoritarian tribalism and a disdain for intellectual rationalism. Intellect and progressivism are viewed with suspicion by neocons as an attribute of the East Coast effete-and-not-quite-American-Elite. That is one reason they dislike Barack Obama. He has the effrontery to be both black and intellectual and that doesn't play well with the bigoted, dumbed-down 'real' Americans. Democrats tend to represent for the right wing in America, the 'pointy headed' liberal intellectual which good, red-blooded-American neocons don't like that one little bit..
This 20 month-in-office-Alaska-governor has been suddenly and slyly billed as the "alternative to Hillary" and her candidacy is supposed to be seen as equalling the innovation of Barack Obama's being the first African American presidential candidate..She fits in with the hard right's extremist, religious zealotry and her freshness on the scene plus her wholesome image of mom and chief executive rolled into one makes her the perfect foil for McCain with his need to pander to the red-meat-right.
For the independent-right-leaning swing voters, Republicans will cover up her extremism with the phony maverick label of John McCain. But now she and McCain intend to co-opt Barack Obama's message of reform. He is the tried-and-true war hero and grandfatherly figure, and she's the all-American-anti-Democrat-frontier- feminist mom. Sarah Palin, is the innovative half of the Republican party's 'reform' lie. While McCain plays the maverick, she is brought in to appeal to the conservative-minded not so smart working class and female voters who probably liked Hillary Clinton and now they like the idea of a Mary Kay Sales Person type who conjures up the American myth of the rugged, Davy Crocket in a dress, hunting woman who is billed by the media as a 'straight shooter'. Since Hillary did not make it onto Obama's ticket, Palin appears to be the fallback choice, regardless of the fact that they may be a little uncomfortable with about her neocon ideology.
Her selection siphoned off the anger of the paranoid, judgmental reactionaries of the Rush-Limbaugh and Ann-Coulter toward John McCain, who, at times in his past career, voted against the position of the extreme right on key issues, though rarely, but he did it, and the right wing base was furious over McCain's stance on illegal immigration and campaign finance reform among other things. So Sarah Palin defused the Neanderthals anger at McCain as well as provide a foil for Republican pseudo-populist imagery. And judging from the way the mainstream media are selling Sarah Palin for all she's worth it seems to be working. McCain is now ahead of Barack Obama in the polls.
The obvious goal in bringing her in was to cobble together another coalition like Bush had in 2004 of the ignorant, the gullible, the dishonest and the stupid. To do this John McCain must pander to and retain the loyalty of both segments of his likely voter base: ie, the right-of-center electorate. He must appeal to and fool the politically moderate 'swing voter' and he must also pretend he is a brother under the skin to the foam-at-the-mouth-reactionary right wingers of his party. He has to pretend to be all things to all sectors of the public likely to consider voting for him.
Up until recently, when the Republicans attacked at their convention the mainstream media, the press was going along with Republican s spinning and lying. They still re cooperating but now there is a little retaliation coming to the fore since the attacks on 'media bias toward Ohama' motif at the Convention. Right-slanted polls and coverage still dominate the mainstream media.
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